WWE WrestleMania 40 is still eight months away, but it is never too early to make some match card predictions for the biggest show of the year. Since this event is two nights, it is expected that there will be six to seven matches per night. Night 1 should feature champions Seth Rollins and Rhea Ripley from Monday Night Raw, as Night 2 usually belongs to the Universal Champion Roman Reigns. WrestleMania is the stage for dream matches, jaw-dropping performances, and epic moments. WWE bills it “The Show of the Immortals” for good reason.
With that being said, the following will provide some very early match card predictions for night 1 of what should be one of the most exciting PPVs of the year: WWE WrestleMania 40.
WWE WrestleMania 40 Night 1 is scheduled to take place on April 6, 2024, live on Peacock, and CM Punk will return to WWE after 10 long years to dethrone Seth Rollins.
Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso [Bloodline Cold War “I Quit” Match: Loser Leaves WWE]
Jey Uso will defeat Jimmy Uso at Mania 40 to avenge his brother for screwing his chance at becoming the Tribal Chief at SummerSlam. The crowd is clearly behind this idea of “Main Event Jey Uso” and WWE should strike while the iron is hot and ride his wave of momentum into the main event scene. It seems that there is no going back to the tag team of the Usos, as they have carved their own paths and characters. Also, Cena foreshadowed this by saying that the “wrong Uso quit” and the tables will turn with Jimmy quitting here and going to Impact with his wife, Trinity.
Prediction: Jey Uso
Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Dakota Kai [Damage Control Triple Threat Match]
Most WWE fans have been calling Damage Control damaged goods, to put it quite bluntly. While all three superstars in the group are popular, the group itself has had a shaky foundation from a booking standpoint. Their plethora of losses throughout the calendar year as a group did not help matters either. Due to that, those fans have been clamoring for them to break up, but it seems that WWE will wait until Mania to finally put an end to their faction. Since Bayley and Iyo both became world champions already, Dakota Kai will win to get her shot at the world title in 2024.
Prediction: Dakota Kai
LA Knight (c) vs. Bobby Lashley vs. AJ Styles vs. Santos Escobar vs. Sheamus vs. Karrion Kross [U.S. Championship: Ladder Match]
LA Knight will undoubtedly walk into Mania as the U.S. Champ. After Santos Escobar turns heel and dethrone current champ, Rey Mysterio, WWE will ride the wave of LA Knight’s babyface momentum by finishing his story with the LWO and dethroning the heel Escobar. There is no clear story direction for LA Knight going into Mania just yet but the ladder match is his worst nightmare since he failed at winning MITB when most fans were counting on him to win. In order to redeem himself, he will retain the U.S. Title in a ladder match against top mid-carders on SmackDown.
Prediction: LA Knight
Drew McIntyre vs. John Cena [Dream Iron Man Match]
When WWE fans think of dream matches, Drew McIntyre vs. John Cena usually comes to mind. It has not happened yet because McIntyre was baby face from 2019 to 2023 and WWE has a proclivity to stay away from baby face versus baby face feuds. Now that McIntyre is on the verge of a massive heel turn, WrestleMania 40 would be the perfect time to pull the trigger on this dream match. A big victory over Cena in front of fans would not only be redemptive for McIntyre at Mania after not being able to win the world title in front of fans but also encourage him to stay with WWE in 2024.
Prediction: Drew McIntyre
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch [WWE World Women’s Championship]
Rhea Ripley will retain the world women’s championship against potential 2-Time Royal Rumble Winner, Becky Lynch, in a first-time-ever match that was once teased in NXT and teased a lot more recently on Raw. Usually, Royal Rumble Winners should solidify their victory with a title win at Mania. However, thanks to how established Lynch is already, she is in that special situation where she does not need the world title anymore. Ripley needs this win a lot more to solidify her spot as a top star in the WWE, so she will win here and continue her dominant reign in 2024.
Prediction: Rhea Ripley
Seth Rollins (c) vs. CM Punk [WWE World Heavyweight Championship]
For what should be the boldest prediction of WrestleMania Night 1, CM Punk will return to WWE after 10 long years to win the Royal Rumble he left in 2014 and win the world title from Seth Rollins, who called him a “cancer” to professional wrestling. This is debatable, but it seems that Rollins is working the WWE fanbase so that their feud in WWE is just that more heated and entertaining. Thanks to Punk creating the Shield and both Rollins and Punk wanting to mainevent their first WrestleMania, this main event should be one to remember for centuries without a heist.
Prediction: CM Punk
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